This disclosure relates generally to an additively manufactured casting article and method for preparing the same. The casting article can be used to cast a gas turbine engine part having a desired internal cooling circuitry.
Gas turbine engines typically include a compressor section, a combustor section, and a turbine section. In general, during operation, air is pressurized in the compressor section and is mixed with fuel and burned in the combustor section to generate hot combustion gases. The hot combustion gases flow through the turbine section, which extracts energy from the hot combustion gases to power the compressor section and other engine loads.
Due to their exposure to hot combustion gases, numerous gas turbine engine parts may include internal cooling features. Dedicated cooling air may be extracted from the compressor section and distributed throughout the part via the internal cooling features to cool the part. Often these parts are cast using an investment casting process. A mold having two or more portions secured to one another defines an exterior surface of the part, and a core positioned within the mold forms the internal cooling features of the part, including but not limited to cooling passages, impingement holes, ribs, microcircuits, or other structures. The core is a solid structure that must be leached from the part post-casting.